It is fury and anguish at Loliondo`s Soitsambu village in Ngorongoro District following the controversial death on Wednesday of a revered Maasai elder.

The deceased has been identified as Chief Shangai ole Putaa and his village-mates are convinced that he was kidnapped, tortured and finally gunned down in cold blood by police in the area.

Arusha Regional Police Commander Basilio Matei has confirmed the incident, saying the elder was shot dead after refusing to cooperate with police officers sent to arrest him over an alleged offence.

"Laigwanan (Maasai elder) Putaa was said to have known the place where criminals had hidden guns that had gone missing. However, when our (police) officers asked him to help them recover the weapons, he refused to do so and tried to run away," explained the RPC.

Putaa`s body was riddled with bullets and lay at the local Wasso Hospital for two days before it was identified, according to Matei.

However, his fellow villagers are not impressed by the police version of the story.

"The police should look for a better excuse because the deceased was one of the most respected elders in the Maasai community.

He held a number of high traditional posts," noted Soitsambu village chairman James Leimbikas.

He described Putaa as a laigwanan, a traditional spiritual leader and chairman of the Soitsambu location who also headed the area`s security committee and was in charge of the recently formed Loliondo anti-crime network.

The villagers said that the day before his death, Putaa was presiding over a solemn Maasai ceremony known as emanyata. Shortly later, a contingent of police personnel stormed the area in Land Rovers and whisked him away.

The village chairman said Putaa?s brother known as Loserian Minis was also led away, adding: "But somewhere along the way, the police pulled out Putaa and ordered him to lie on a rock. They then started hitting him with clubs and gun butts."

"They were telling him to reveal the location of the missing guns but he kept telling them that he had no idea. I miraculously managed to flee the torture scene unscathed," explained Loserian.

Loserian said the villagers? efforts to trace Putaa had failed by Thursday and it was then that Kundai Parmwati, the local ward executive officer, reported having seen a body at the Wasso Hospital mortuary 'that closely resembled the deceased'.

"We rushed to the mortuary and identified the body as my brother's," observed Loserian.

The deceased's brother said their efforts to communicate with Inspector General of Police Said Mwema on the matter "bore no positive results because he later simply told us to bury the deceased as investigations into the incident were going on".
The elder is survived by two widows and eight children